


Chiaroscuro

by nixcomix



Series: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words [6]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:53:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28664244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nixcomix/pseuds/nixcomix
Summary: Let them die. Let themalldie. But not him.Because she can't go on without him.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey
Series: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099736
Comments: 28
Kudos: 57





	Chiaroscuro

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anopendoor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anopendoor/gifts).



> Another ficlet based off of breathtaking and inspiring artwork. Written for a friend, named after a friend.  
> Sending love to my fellow Reylos.

Art by [ Peacock](https://twitter.com/peacockdraw?s=20) (Used with permission~) Their work is amazing. Follow them for beautiful content.

  
  
  
  


_________________

Her life was a story of chiaroscuro.

Black.

White.

Black equaled evil. White equaled good. You were either one or the other; there was no room in one person for both of those things.

Evil meant that you killed those who didn’t deserve it. You only cared about yourself and your power, letting anything and everything else fall into ruin. You reveled in the pain of others, sought it out. Evil was  _ evil. _ Vicious. Hateful.

Good meant that, if you had to kill, you did it to  _ protect  _ something. Yourself. Someone you cherished. You cared about others, putting yourself in harm’s way to keep that precious someone safe; unable to bear seeing them suffer. Good was  _ good. _ Kind. Loving.

Love was something that evil could never understand.  _ Never. _

Until he came into her life, this is how she lived; dawn to dusk. This was all she knew. All she had  _ ever  _ known. A worldview of stark contrast: the Black of Darkness, the White of Light. 

Then… he was there. He thundered into her existence like a tempest and her narrow vision widened. Suddenly, there was an ambiguous Gray.

And  _ Red. _

Life changed.  _ Everything  _ changed the day she met him. 

And now? Now, he lays face down on the ground before her, terrifyingly silent. The battle is won, and she is the victor. Her enemies —  _ their  _ enemies — are now nothing more than flesh waiting to rot. Her black, billowed robe nestles around her as she kneels before her dark prince. 

He’d dropped during the skirmish, injured and vulnerable, and she could feel their connection send the echoes of his pain through her body… but she hadn’t minded. That ache meant he was alive. But — they’d hurt him. Those vile creatures had  _ dared  _ to  _ hurt him. _

She went nearly mad with viciousness, then. 

Rey, the Light one turned Dark, stood steadfast and refused their Master’s orders; orders that commanded her to abandon Kylo Ren, the man who’d given her  _ everything.  _ It was a disgusting ask; one she would not abide by. Instead, she stepped in to  _ protect him  _ — and she used her new and dangerous power to do it. All the while, whispering to herself:

_Let them die. Let them -all-_ _die. But not him. -Never- him._

_ Because I can’t go on without him. _

She sees it for what it is immediately. This feeling in every pore, fiber and cell. This ache and yearning in her very soul.

Love.

If she had turned so harshly away from the Light, how could she  _ love  _ this much?

As he lifts his head, unconsciousness broken, relief fills her like a holy song. She can’t help but lean in; can’t help but touch his face. He’s battle weary — pained and exhausted — and, when it dawns on him that the strewn bodies that lay around were  _ her doing,  _ he looks at her with such awe.

Rey thinks it must be the first time anyone has protected her beloved Kylo Ren of their own volition. Not because they had to, were  _ commanded  _ to… but because they couldn’t imagine life without him. Because they needed him. Wanted him.  _ Loved him. _

Like she does.

Her fingers swipe beads of pained sweat from his cheeks and she holds his gaze with a wide-eyed adoration; an all-encompassing feeling she’d thought impossible for those fallen into the Darkness. She’d been wrong. Like a child, she had never understood. Never truly  _ seen. _

Black. White. Black. White. 

Grey.

_ Red. _

A blazing crimson that overtakes all shadows, flickering bloodshed hues. A color that made you  _ feel.  _ A color that was like a prophecy, somehow. 

A deep and beautiful Red.

…Like his saber.

And like her eyes.


End file.
